Bridgeton Mayor Albert B. Kelly: It's really all in the numbers

As you have probably figured out by now, I like numbers and statistics. I suppose I like them because numbers are an easy way to understand a lot of hard complex information, stuff that might otherwise be misunderstood or overlooked. It simplifies things. For example, those of us who are sports fans might look at the quarterback rating or “passer rating.” It’s a single number that tells us at glance whether a quarterback is productive by taking the completion rate, interception rate, average yards per pass, and number of touchdowns per pass attempt, and boiling into one easily recognizable number, so we’ll know if a quarterback is considered good or not.

But numbers can also be deceptive. A number doesn’t tell the whole story. In the example above, the number might tell us some important things about a quarterback, but it won’t tell us about his competitive drive, his heart, or his ability to overcome adversity, so it’s important to handle these numbers with care.

Though errors do happen and the numbers can be wrong, numbers and statistics are still the basis of much of what we know today and if handled correctly, they are extremely useful if taken in the right context.

Recently, I read an article from the Corporation for National and Community Service, which ranked New Jersey 47th out of the 50 states in terms of volunteer service. The article highlighted the fact that 22.6 percent of New Jersey residents volunteer in their community. In contrast, the State of Utah is listed as the top state with 40.9 percent of its residents finding time to do volunteer community service. The Garden State is sandwiched between West Virginia (46th) and Nevada (48th), with Louisiana (50th) bringing up the rear. To be fair to New Jersey, the list pre-dates Super Storm Sandy and it does not reflect the outpouring of help that has come in response to this catastrophe.

Still, Sandy notwithstanding, with so much to be done, I am troubled to think that less than a quarter of the residents in our state take time to volunteer in some way. I will concede that it is hard for me to see the forest from the trees, since many people I know personally give of themselves in some form to make our community and our state a better place. But I suspect that the number of people in our state of 8 million who readily point out all that’s wrong and all that’s lacking far exceeds the 22.6% or 1.55 million that actually roll up their sleeves and do something about it.

I can say that the only way a community, any community, whether wealthy or financially challenged, can truly survive, is by having their residents take on the mantle of community service. Going back to numbers and what they tell us, I decided to go a little deeper and I discovered that out of the 173 million hours of service given over the course of a year, it comes out to 25.2 hours per volunteer, per year. The total number of volunteer hours had a money value of $3.8 billion.

It sounds pretty impressive and I am grateful for anyone who volunteers, but in context it means that out of the 173 million hours of service by those who volunteer, averaging 25.2 hours per year, it really means that out of a total of 8,760 hours, which is what we get in a year, volunteers gave an average of 25.2 hours, or 0.003 percent of their time. As for the $3.8 billion in value, it comes in the midst of a state budget that is $31.7 billion ... barely 12 percent.

To round out the picture, of those who do volunteer, 30 percent (450,000 or roughly 7 sold out Eagles games), do their volunteering through a church or a house of worship, and 15 percent (225,000 or 4 sold out Eagles games) do their volunteering through some type of social service organization such as the Boy Scouts or the 4-H Club.

All of it means we can do better than 22.6 percent of the state’s population and individually, we can give more than 25 hours out of the 8,760 hours we get in a year, especially when the average person spends close to 1,760 hours per year watching television another 400 hours per year on-line, unless of course you’re a teenager, and that’s a whole different thing.

But if we’re going to improve our communities, if we’re going to improve the quality of life for our children, if we’re going to do those things that make our lives full and our days more meaningful, I’m confident that it will be in providing some form of service to others, because with all the numbers out floating around, there’s no way to measure that ... it’s simply priceless.

So if you would consider volunteering some time and giving part of your talents, there is much good yet to be done. As we speak, we have a need for people to serve in our neighborhood watch program, the library board, boys and girls clubs, Scout leaders, literacy volunteers, mentors, and so much more. You can visit www.cityofbridgeton.com to contact our community volunteer coordinator or call me at 856-455-3230 Ext. 200 and we’ll go from there.

Albert B. Kelly is mayor of Bridgeton. Contact him by phone at 856-455-3230 Ext. 200. His column appears each Monday in the Times.